Xero says customer base of 50,000 'a milestone'

Online accounting software creator Xero says it now has 50,000 paying business customers.

Xero was founded by technology entrepreneur Rod Drury in 2006 and replaces the traditional "shrink-wrapped" software in a box with a service running over the internet.

It has 200,000 active users and has processed more than $50 billion in customer transactions, the company said.

Drury said getting 50,000 customers marked a "big internal milestone".

"Xero's strong offshore growth means 40 per cent of customers are now based outside New Zealand and the company anticipates this growth to continue as the Xero brand becomes established in large overseas markets," he said.

The company increased its base by 25 per cent between March and June.

"Acquiring customers this quickly reinforces our strategy of using our capital to grow the business so that we can take advantage of the market opportunity and position Xero as the global leader in small business accounting," Drury said.

In July, Xero acquired Australian payroll company Paycycle in a deal worth A$1.5 million. In its last set of financial results, the company reported an annual revenue of $9.3 million for the year ending March 31, up from $3 million in 2010.

Despite the growth in top-line earnings, the company posted a net loss of $7.6 million.

The share price climbed 2c yesterday to $2.78.